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Kenya: Pastoralists Face Looming Drought
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The East African Standard (Nairobi)
29 March 2008
Posted to the web 28 March 2008
Wandera Ojanji
Nairobi
Nuria Habiba Edin did not take breakfast and is not looking forward to having lunch.
Although she has her food relief ration, the woman prefers to feed it to her three frail sheep and two goats.
Like other pastoralists in North Eastern Kenya, Edin, 55, is desperate to keep her livestock. And her desperation is growing. She has just lost a goat kid because its mother is too weak to provide milk. It is a matter of time before the mother goat dies too.
As much as she tries to feed the animals on her food ration, they are too thirsty to survive on the dry maize.
Edin is no stranger to the harsh realities of severe droughts in the region. She lost 120 animals in another drought that ravaged parts of the region and Eastern province two years ago.
Fearing the worst, Edin has moved most of her animals to Ethiopia where water is available. The five animals remaining in Kenya are too weak to survive the long trek to watering points in Ethiopia.
Edin's situation epitomises the predicament facing pastoralists in parts of Kenya as the drought worsens.
While rains are predicted to fall in April in these areas, there is concern that the available forage, pasture and water might not take the animals up to that time.
There is also no guarantee that it will rain since dry spells characterised the whole of last year. Weather experts have warned of a looming La Nina, usually associated with below-normal rainfall. This includes spells of drought in the pastoral areas in eastern Africa. The situation in the larger Mandera District has reached alarming levels, with many pastoralists crossing over to Ethiopia in search of water and pasture.
Mr Abdulahi Muhammed, Kiliweheri location chief, says many residents moved their cows last September, and
goats and sheep at the beginning of the year to Ethiopia. But those migrating to Ethiopia are in a predicament. Although there is water, the forage and pasture conditions are in a much worse state than in Kenya.
Muhammed says most pastoralists have lost many animals since migrating to Ethiopia. Mr Kibe Maguta, Takaba division District Officer, is worried that the situation may get worse. He fears that scenes reminiscent of the 2006 drought may recur if it does not rain soon.
"There is already a build-up of inter and intra clan tensions over water and pasture," says the DO. In fact, he says, they have had to quell inter clan clashes at Sake, with the assistance of elders. Those far away from the Ethiopian border have been left at the mercy of nature, the Government and development agencies, to provide water.
Those affected include Takaba residents. Without any boreholes, the residents in Mandera division headquarters and its environs rely on three water pans - Garale, Tubathi and Sigenge - that were rehabilitated by Action Aid at a cost of Sh40 million.
But the pans which rely on rainwater for replenishment are virtually empty.
Shortage of water
Except for Tubathi, with a water capacity of 70 million cubic meters, Garale, the main pan with a water capacity of 120 million cubic metres and the 50-million cubic metre Sigenge pan have all dried up.
"The remaining water pan in Tubathi cannot sustain Takaba residents and its environs for more than three weeks," warns Mr Nuktar Hussein Liban, a programme officer with Mandera Educational Development Society (MEDS).
To alleviate the situation, the Government and other development agencies have hired tankers to distribute water to the few watering points. Some of these places have turned into camps for internally displaced pastoralists.
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However, the water supply is hardly enough for their daily needs.
"It does not matter the size of the family. Every household gets 20 litres of water everyday with the preference being given to the elderly and households without donkeys or camels," says Mr Shinowi Mohammed Isaac, a village elder at Eldarwet IDP camp in Takaba. It is a tough balancing act for Ms Nuria Ukurrow, 38, who lives at Eldarwet camp. Relocated from the inaccessible Diribanda in 2005 by Action Aid, the divorced mother of six has to survive on the 20-litre ration. Bathing for her three children in primary school is a luxury, despite the hot weather and the long dusty treks to school.
After the family lost 49 camels to drought, two of Ukurrow's elder children have migrated with their remaining seven camels to Ethiopia. But not all have a chance to move to Ethiopia. With a flock of 50 goats and sheep and 40 camels, Mr Hussein Mohammed from Buru Moyo, had to trek for 40km to Shindri Fatuma water point.
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